Dumping-wagon



(No Model.)

A. J .'SMITH. DUMPING WAGON.

'Patented Deo. 3, 1895.

I @Gm .l fw Wm A /f//V JM f Witnesses:

Attorneys AN DREW BLRMMM.HOTD-LITHQWASHINGI'DII. DC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ANDREIV J. SMITH, OF GREENSBURG, INDIANA.

DUMPING-WAGON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,848, dated December 3, 1895. Application filed March 26, 1894. Serial No. 505,128. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, ANDREW J. SMrTH,a citizen of the United States, residing at Greensburg, in the county of Decatur and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DumpingNVagons and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The nature of this invention is a sectional bed for dumping-wagons which can be readily applied to ordinary Wagon-bodies for the purposes of quickly unloading or dumping the contents of the body without hinderance from the running-gear and which is so constructed as to form a tightly-closed bottom for transporting coal, earth, ore, or sand with little waste, if any.

I am aware that previous to my invention a dumping-Wagon has been constructed with a series of hinged iiaps which are connected loosely together by chains and combined with an operating-shaft adapted to raise the flaps through their chains to a horizontal position; but such a body-bed is not practical7 for the reason that there is considerable lost motion in the chains, and they are liable to twist, so that the iiaps cannot be brought together when the bottom is to be closed and the vehicle loaded.

My invention consists of bearing-rails arranged longitudinally within the sides of the vehicle-body, to which said bearing-rails are rigidly secured by transverse bolts and provided With series of transversely aligned pivot-bearings,combined with a series of flaps, each provided at the ends thereof and near one side edge with projecting trunnions or ears, which are fitted in said pivot-bearings of the side rails, and further provided on the side edge adjacent to said pivots or trunnions with a longitudinal recess or bevel, an endwise-movable bar or bars arranged below the hinged flaps and said bar connected at one end to an operating-shaft, and a positive crank connection between the free edge of each hinged flap and the endwise-movable operating-bar, whereby the flaps are operated under the weight of the load to dump the same, and they are positively raised by the `by my invention.

cranks and bar, so that said flaps are in horizontal alignment and the free edge of each iiap fits snugly in the recessed or beveled edge of the adjacent flap; and the improve ments further consist in the peculiar construction and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Inothe accompanying drawings, Figure I is a bottom plan view of a vehicle-body having its bottom constructed as contemplated Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the plane indicated bythe dotted line x Qa of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 'y y of Figs. I and 2. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the hinged iaps.

Like letters denote corresponding parts in all the igures of the drawings.

The bodyA of the vehicle may be construct ed in any approved manner with its lower side open. I prefer to unite the side and end walls `of the body by bolts and to strengthen the same by transverse tie-rods",`and within'the body A, at opposite ends thereof, are secured the reversely-inclined walls B B, which serve to discharge the load of the vehicle toward the middle of the body.

C D designate the bearing-rails contemplated by my invention, and E the flaps. F is the endwise-movable bar, and G the positive crank connections between the free edges of the iiaps and said bar F. These bearing-rails C D are arranged longitudinally within the body A from one inclined wall B to the other, and said rails'are situated on opposite sides of the body within the same, to which sides the rails are rigidly fastened by through-bolts. These bearing-rails are each provided with pivot-bearings c, arranged in series along the length thereof corresponding to the flaps E, and the pivot-bearings of one rail are inline with the similar bearings of the other rail transversely across the body A.

The flaps E may be made of wood or metal,

and if made of wood each flap has one edge IOO signed to receive the free edge of an adjacent strip when the flaps are brought into horizon tal alignment to close the bottom of the body A, whereby the strips e are made to cover the joints between the iiaps, as shown by Fig. 2, and close joints are secured between the iiaps which lie flush with each other, and waste of the load is prevented. Close to this beveled or recessed edge of each flap are affixed the pivots or trunnions f f, which are in line with each other and extend in opposite directions beyond the vends of the flap, and these trunnions of the iiap are fitted in the transversely-aligned pivot-bearings in the rails C D, to enable the flaps to turn easily therein. A plate g is rigidly fastened to the lower or bottom side of each flap, and near the free edge of the iiap this plate g is provided with a bearing-loop g. The crank Gis made from a single piece of metal, which has its opposite ends bent in reverse directions to form the arm h on one side and the arm h on the opposite side, and said crank G has its arm h loosely fitted in the loop g' of the hinged Uflap and its other arm, h', pivotally connected to the bar F, whereby the flaps and bar are posi tively connected together for simultaneous operation. To distribute and equalize the strain on the bar F and the hinged flaps, I arrange the crank connections on the adjacent flaps to connect with opposite sides of the bar. Thus the first, third, fifth, &c. flaps have the cranks G situated on one side of the bar and pivotally connected to the flaps and the bar on that side. The second, fourth, and sixth iaps have their cranks on the opposite side of the bar and thus connected to the flaps and the bar on that side.

If the vehicle is to transport large heavy loads, I may find it necessary to employ two, three, or more of the bars F and to duplicate the cranks G accordingly. Hence I would have it understood that I do not confine myself strictly to the use of a single bar.

rlhe flaps are depressed and lowered by the weight of the load in the vehicle-body; but to conveniently move the bar F and raise the flaps to their horizontally aligned and flush To limit the upward closing movement of the flaps, I provide a detaining-chain I,connected to the other end of the bar F, and to take up the slack in the chain the eyebolt c' is attached to the chain I and has its threaded shank attached to a transverse bar i', a nut j being screwed on the threaded shank to adjust the eyebolt or chain.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a dumping wagon, the flat flaps E provided with the longitudinal reinforcement strips e which extend beyond the edges of said flaps to form the recesses and shoulders e', the horizontally projecting trunnions f f rigid with the flaps near their recessed edges, and the bearing loops g on the free edges of said flaps, combined with the body or box A, the longitudinal bearing rails secured in the sides of the body or box and receiving the trunnions f f of the iiaps to support the flaps and enable them to swing to horizontal aligned positions where the free edge of one iiap fits in the recess c on an adjacent flap, the joints between all the flaps being covered by the projecting strips e, the adjusting bar F, and the cranks G having the arms 7L 71, connected to the bar F and the loops g on the iiaps E, respectively,as and for the purpose described.

2. In a dumping wagon, the combination with a body or box A, and the bearing-rails C D therein, of the flaps E each pivoted near one of its edges in said rails and provided on its free edge with the reinforcement strip which projects beyond said edge to overlap the free edge of an adjacent flap, when all of the iaps are adj usted in horizontal alignment, the central adjusting bar F arranged below the flaps, the two series of bearing loops g g arranged on opposite sides of said bar and attached to alternate flaps E, and the cranks G arranged alternately on opposite sides of the bar and each crank having one arm connected to the bar F and the other arm connected to a loop g' on one of the flaps, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW J. SMITH. Vitnesses:

CORTEZ EwING, A. MURPHY. 

